Showtime Orders to Series Sexy Affair, Philip Seymour Hoffman Comedy; Sets 2 Return Dates

Showtime has ordered to series two new yet very different projects, each populated by familiar faces.

On the comedy front, the pay cabler has given a green light to Happyish (fka Trending Down), which stars Oscar-winner Philip Seymour Hoffman as Thom Payne, an ad man who is sent adrift when his ad agency is taken over. The project is described as a “blistering attack on our youth-obsessed culture and a darkly comic examination of what it means to matter. Or matter not.”

On the steamy/angst front, there is The Affair, which is described an intense and intimate exploration of two marriages and an indiscretion that disrupts them – with all of the complex consequences that result. The cast features Dominic West (The Wire) and Ruth Wilson (Luther) — as the adulterers — and Maura Tierney (ER) and Joshua Jackson (Fringe), as their respective proper mates.

No timetables are yet available for either series, though the trailers previewed at TCA looked fantastic.

In other Showtime news, the network announced Season 6 of Nurse Jackie and the final season of Californication will premiere April 13.